So.....I ordered Snakes & Arrows Live on BluRay

[Cail]

'Cause dang it, I just love Rush.

I fought it for a long damn time, but they really do kick ass.

For the record, I thought they started losing it when they released Signals ("Subdivisions" excepted, that's the best song they've ever released), and other than "Red Sector A" and "Distant Early Warning", Grace Under Pressure blew.

And I said (out loud) "f*ck Rush" when Power windows was released. And didn't go see them or listen to them again until I saw the video for "Show Don't Tell" at some point in '89. Great song. But still, f*ck Rush. Then, on a beautiful evening, driving through downtown Columbia, Maryland I heard "Dreamline". Holy sh*t, finally another good Rush song. Went out and bought the CD that night.

Then.....well, I sort of got mired down in my crappy marriage....

But now I've come to realize what a great band this is. So I've ordered the BluRay, and we'll see just how well they've held up.

[dANdeLION]

I have it on DVD. Gotta love the Genie!

[Cail]

You know dAN, you said something a few years ago that really got me thinking....Something to the effect that "Moving Pictures" was a snapshot of a band that was totally in sync and at the top of their game. You were right. As much as I loathe Tom Sawyer, MP is a fantastic album.

[Usivius]

yah, I agree that Rush had some iffy albums in the late 80s early 90s ... but they have really been on their game in the 2000s ...

[dANdeLION]

Roll The Bones and Counterparts are the 2 Rush offerings from the early 90's....the middle tunes on Counterparts are forgettable, but RtB is the cd that proved to me that Rush was back on their game.

[Cail]

Yeah, RTB is a fantastic album.

[Cail]

Holy mother of God....

Two chords into Limelight (the first track on the disc), and I think this just displaced P*U*L*S*E* as my favorite concert video.

The picture and sound are simply amazing.

And you gotta love that they're still playing 4 of the 6 songs on Permanent Waves......

[Sorus]

For the record, I thought they started losing it when they released Signals ("Subdivisions" excepted, that's the best song they've ever released), and other than "Red Sector A" and "Distant Early Warning", Grace Under Pressure blew.

Grace Under Pressure is the album that made me a Rush fan, but yeah, those are a couple of the best songs on the album.

[Cail]

Well, I've watched it quite a bit, and downloaded some stuff from iTunes, and come to this conclusion....

The decisions I made and the opinions I had about Rush in 1983, are probably not representative of where I am musically today (though I still hate everything about "Big Money" except the opening). I've now heard at least two songs from every album from Grace Under Pressure on to the present, and I think I just need to download them all.

I scooped up Roll the Bones on Wednesday, and was shocked at how good it was. I listened to the album a lot when it came out (a friend had it), but I never bought it. "Ghost of a Chance" and "Heresy" are both stunningly good.

[Akasri]

I've been a Rush fan since high school (back in the 70s). Seen them in concert 5 or 6 times. They are hands down my favorite band.

And they are amazing live. Good to see a DVD that finally captured that.

[Zarathustra]

How did I miss this thread?

I love this band--and this Blu-ray--so much that I've probably watched at least a song or two every single weekend since it came out last fall. Seriously. Natural Science and Witchhunt are the two standouts, imo. When my subwoofer kicks in for Ged's Taurus bass pedals on WH, WOW!

I also love the S&A stuff, but most of it sounds better on the studio CD. Armor and Sword has a nice, crazy bridge section that reminds me of Cygnus X-1. Spindrift has a rocking outro jam. But Far Cry needs all those layers of guitar they put on the CD track. It sounds much diminished without them.

And I actually dig Mission quite a bit, even though I used to loathe the 80s synth period. Again, those Taurus bass pedals through my subwoofer send chills down my spine. While the cheesy chorus can get old, I love the middle prog section and the outro guitar solo. Powerful stuff.

Overall I thought the sound was amazing. Geddy's voice really fills the room. I love the crash cymbals in the surrounds, and the snare anchored in the center channel. [Cail, I forgot: did you ever upgrade your receiver so that you can hear the DTS-HD hi-res surround track on this disc? If not, this is the disc to pop in once you upgrade. ]

It was nice to get Circumstances (Hemispheres is my favorite album).

My only complaint is that a lot of the older material is played at a slight slower tempo than the studio versions. No big deal, but I feel like it's a cop-out. Maybe I just can't stand the thought of the "boys" getting old.

I am VERY glad to see Roll the Bones gone from this setlist. I really can't stand that CD, and that song in particular. While the CD is not as bad as Test For Echo, it's pretty close. Counterparts was a brief bright spot in the 90s, but I really don't think they have produced a *great* album (since perhaps Signals) until Vapor Trails. I can't wait for the remaster of that one.

Just to let you all know . . . R30, the 30th Anniversary Tour Blu-Ray is coming out next Tuesday, the 8th, I believe. It will have the complete set-list, including the 8 songs which were left off the DVD in 2005.

[Zarathustra]

The R30 Blu-ray is indeed out, and a very good disc. I like the S&A show better, but this one is a close second. Xanadu, By-Tor, Working Man, Trees, La Villa . . . these are reason enough to own the disc. The hi-res quality difference is night-and-day over the DVD. This is the only concert where I owned both, so I was able to do a simultaneous A/B comparison between the two formats. I hooked my DVD player up and ran both at the same time, switching back and forth between audio and video inputs. The difference was like putting on my glasses and taking earplugs out of my ears.

I love Blu-ray. If they never developed a better format, I'd be satisfied. I can't imagine it looking or sounding any better.